The diversion of container ships around the southern coast of Africa due to tensions in the Red Sea has “hardened” and is expected to continue at least until the end of the year, Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said on Wednesday.

“That obviously requires more capacity, more ships to handle global trade around the world, and that has led to some bottlenecks here in the second and third quarters that we are currently struggling with,” Clerc told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

“This means higher costs in the short term and we have had to incur significant costs as a result, both in terms of the need for more ships and the need for more containers to do the work we are expected to do.”

If the company has to continue to use the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope to connect Europe and the east coast of the USA with Asia, Maersk will experience a “significant inflation” of its cost base, which it “will have to pass on to customers,” Clerc said.

Maersk on Wednesday reported a year-on-year decline in revenue for the second quarter and first half of the year. The group reported adjusted profit of $623 million for the second quarter, down from the $1.35 billion reported for the same period last year.

Demand for containers was stronger than expected, but is likely to weaken in the coming quarters, Clerc said.

Maersk shares were trading 1.8 percent lower at 11:33 a.m. in London.

Puma shares fell more than 11% on Wednesday after the sporting goods maker announced its second-quarter results and revised its full-year earnings before interest and taxes forecast.

At 8:46 a.m. London time, the share price was 11.1 percent lower.

The company now expects an EBIT between 620 million euros and 670 million euros (US$677 million and US$732 million), a decrease from the previous estimate of 620 million euros to 700 million euros.

Puma cited “external factors such as higher freight costs, changing tariffs and continued subdued consumer sentiment, particularly in China” as reasons for the change.

The company said its second-quarter financial results were in line with expectations.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Novo Nordisk shares fell on Wednesday after the Wegovy maker reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter net profit and revised down its operating profit forecast.

Shares fell nearly 7 percent at market opening and were last down 4.5 percent at 8:20 a.m. London time.

The pharmaceutical giant said its net profit for the three months to the end of June was 20.05 billion Danish kroner ($2.93 billion), compared with an overall forecast by LSEG of 20.9 billion Danish kroner.

Novo Nordisk also lowered its operating profit forecast for the full year 2024, Growth is now expected to be between 20 and 28 percent instead of the previously expected range of 22 to 30 percent.

You can read the whole story here.

European markets opened higher on Wednesday, with the pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 up 0.37 percent at 8:23 a.m. London time.

Most sectors recently posted positive results. Banks rose by 1.17 percent, while healthcare stocks lost 0.47 percent.

Stock exchanges across the region also rose: the British FTSE 100 rose 0.57 percent, the German DAX rose 0.27 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.46 percent.

— Sophie Kiderlin

European stocks are expected to rebound when trading opens on Wednesday. Here are the opening statements:

The UK FTSE The index is expected to open 102 points higher at 8,120, Germany’s DAX rose by 208 points to 17,526 points, CAC40 rose by 104 points to 7,220 points, Italy’s FTSE MIB According to data from IG, the index rose 437 points to 31,670.

Results from Maersk, Novo Nordisk, Commerzbank, Siemens Energy, Continental, Puma, Illimity, Ahold Delhaize, ABN AMRO, Legal & General, Glencore and WPP are expected on Wednesday.

European data releases include the British Halifax house price index as well as figures on German industrial production and the trade balance.

— Holly Ellyatt

The Bank of Japan will not raise interest rates as long as markets are volatile, Vice Governor Uchida Shinichi said in a speech on Wednesday.

Japanese markets experienced sharp fluctuations this week, experiencing both the worst sell-off since the Black Monday crash in 1987 and the best day since October 2008.

Uchida pointed out that unlike Europe or the United States, Japan’s economy is not in a situation where the bank could fall behind if it does not raise interest rates at a certain pace.

“Therefore, the bank will not raise its key interest rate if financial and capital markets are unstable,” he said.

— Christine Wang

U.S. stock futures reversed to trade higher as Asian shares rose in morning trade.

Dow futures rose 219 points, or 0.56%, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.67%. Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 0.97%.

The benchmark Nikkei225 in Japan rose 2%, while the broad-based Topix gained 3%. Japanese YEN Against the dollar, the exchange rate weakened to around 146.

— Christine Wang